Anniversary

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Well, today is my 1 year anniversary as a Full Time Employee (FTE) at Microsoft, which also happens to the Indian holiday of Gandhi Jayanti (commemorating the birth of Mahatma Ghandi), and is the International Day of Non-Violence.  In other words, it's a good day :)

Scott Hanselman has a great write-up of his first few weeks at Microsoft, and his impressions complement mine (I had a bit longer to drink the kool-aid).  Scott mentions "emptying the ocean with a teaspoon", and I have heard of drinking from a firehose, but the concept is the same.  When you are changing the world, there is significantly more in the "to do" pile than there are hours in the day.  I wouldn't have it any other way ;)

So what have I done in the last year?  In no particular order:

  • Spent a day presenting on Windows Vista to Microsoft Partners in New York
  • Kicked off and led several new business initiatives on my team
  • Bought a House
  • Traveled to France and India to work with Managers in Europe and India on the details of implementing a Global strategy
  • Missed my 10-year High School Reunion on the above trip
  • Tried Foie Gras and Wine (I don't like either)
  • Met my favorite bloggers (Keith Combs, CC Hameed, Raymond Chen, and Michael Kaplan)
  • Met with some INCREDIBLY passionate, talented and intelligent Microsoft Partners from ClearPointe and ADXStudio, as well several others  at Worldwide Partner Conference
  • Took up photography as a hobby
  • Started running
  • Stopped running
  • Started blogging
  • Had a post or two noted by Scoble
  • Learned to not write April Fool's posts that cause lots of phone calls to certain product teams within Microsoft
  • Joined Facebook
  • Absorbed knowledge from my co-workers like a sponge
  • Served in the Military
  • Worked on my Degree from WSU
  • Got addicted to Lost
  • Listened to a bunch of artists you have never heard of on Pandora
  • Bought a MacBook Pro
  • Loaded Vista on my MBP, as well as on my sister's
  • Saw Bill Gates' last appearance at the Company Meeting
  • Watched some plays by the best actor in the world
  • Visited Yale
  • Read some great books, including Beyond Fear and The Art of Intrusion
  • Learned Computer Forensics
  • Taught my daughter chess

All-in-all, it was a very good year, and I love working for Microsoft even more than I did a year ago.  Here's to the next one!